Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network Data Scheduling and Handling

ABSTRACT

A system is provided for scheduling for a multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN). The system includes a central control configured to promote a plurality of enhanced node Bs (ENBs) transmitting one or more multicast traffic channels (MTCHs). The one or more MTCHs are provided during a variable scheduling period (SP) and include a data portion that contains MBSFN traffic content and a variable scheduling portion that contains scheduling information related to the MBSFN traffic content.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/312,474 filed Jun. 23, 2014 by Zhijun Cai entitled, “MulticastBroadcast Single Frequency Network Data Scheduling and Handling”(Attorney Docket No. 33037-US-CNT[2]-4214-04812), which is acontinuation of U.S. Pat. No. 8,774,141, issued on Jul. 8, 2014entitled, “Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network Data Schedulingand Handling” (Attorney Docket No. 33037-US-PAT-4214-04800), both ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference as if reproduced in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

In traditional wireless telecommunications systems, transmissionequipment in a base station transmits signals throughout a geographicalregion known as a cell. As technology has evolved, more advanced networkaccess equipment has been introduced that can provide services that werenot possible previously. This advanced network access equipment mightinclude, for example, an enhanced node B (ENB) rather than a basestation or other systems and devices that are more highly evolved thanthe equivalent equipment in a traditional wireless telecommunicationssystem. Such advanced or next generation equipment may be referred toherein as long-term evolution (LTE) equipment. For LTE equipment, theregion in which a wireless device can gain access to atelecommunications network might be referred to by a name other than“cell”, such as “hot spot”. As used herein, the term “cell” will be usedto refer to any region in which a wireless device can gain access to atelecommunications network, regardless of whether the wireless device isa traditional cellular device, an LTE device, or some other device.

Devices that might be used by users in a telecommunications network caninclude both mobile terminals, such as mobile telephones, personaldigital assistants, handheld computers, portable computers, laptopcomputers, tablet computers and similar devices, and fixed terminalssuch as residential gateways, televisions, set-top boxes and the like.Such devices will be referred to herein as user equipment or UE.

A group of LTE-based cells might be under the control of a single entityknown as a central control. The central control typically manages andcoordinates certain activities with a group of cells such as thescheduling of transmissions and the control of a modulation and codingscheme for the cells. The modulation and coding schemes might includebinary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK),quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), or other schemes that will befamiliar to one of skill in the art.

Services that might be provided by LTE-based equipment can includebroadcasts or multicasts of television programs, streaming video,streaming audio, and other multimedia content. Such services arecommonly referred to as multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS).An MBMS might be transmitted throughout a single cell or throughoutseveral contiguous or overlapping cells. A set of cells receiving anMBMS can be referred to as a service area. A service area and a regionunder the control of a central control do not necessarily coincide. Forexample, a central control might specify that a first subset of cellsunder its control will deliver a first MBMS and that a second subset ofcells under its control will deliver a second MBMS.

When multiple cells overlap, a UE within the overlapped region canreceive transmissions from multiple ENBs. It is well known in the artthat when a UE receives substantially identical data from a plurality ofENBs, the transmissions from the ENBs can augment one another to providea signal of significantly higher quality than would be the case if onlyone ENB were transmitting the signal. That is, a higher signal-to-noiseratio can be achieved when substantially the same data is transmitted atsubstantially the same time on substantially the same resource withsubstantially the same modulation and coding. A region in which aplurality of substantially identical signals are present is known as asingle frequency network, or SFN. In the case where all of the ENBs in aservice area are transmitting an MBMS with substantially identicalsignals, the service area can be referred to a multicast/broadcast SFN(MBSFN).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference is nowmade to the following brief description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like referencenumerals represent like parts.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a cellular network according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a cell in a cellular network according toan embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a structure for a multimedia broadcast multicastservice transmission operable for some of the various embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a plurality of multicast/broadcast singlefrequency networks operable for some of the various embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 5a is a diagram of a structure for a multicast transport channelfor some of the various embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 5b is a diagram of another embodiment of a structure for amulticast transport channel according to other embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a method for scheduling multicast trafficaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7a is a diagram of a structure for multiplexed multimedia broadcastmulticast service transmissions for some of the various embodiments ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 7b is a diagram of another structure for multiplexed multimediabroadcast multicast service transmissions for some of the variousembodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a wireless communications system including userequipment operable for some of the various embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of user equipment operable for some of thevarious embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a software environment that may be implementedon user equipment operable for some of the various embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 11 is an illustrative general purpose computer system suitable forsome of the various embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be understood at the outset that although illustrativeimplementations of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure areprovided below, the disclosed systems and/or methods may be implementedusing any number of techniques, whether currently known or in existence.The disclosure should in no way be limited to the illustrativeimplementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, includingthe exemplary designs and implementations illustrated and describedherein, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claimsalong with their full scope of equivalents.

In an embodiment, a system is provided for scheduling for a multicastbroadcast single frequency network (MBSFN). The system includes acentral control configured to promote a plurality of enhanced node Bs(ENBs) transmitting one or more multicast traffic channels (MTCHs). Theone or more MTCHs are provided during a variable scheduling period (SP)and include a data portion that contains MBSFN traffic content and avariable scheduling portion that contains scheduling information relatedto the MBSFN traffic content.

In another embodiment, a method is disclosed for providing a pluralityof multicast traffic channels (MTCHs). The method includes determiningthe plurality of MTCHs that belong to a single multicast broadcastsingle frequency network (MSBFN), and selecting a multiplexing schemefor the plurality of MTCHs. The method also includes mapping theplurality of MTCHs according to the multiplexing scheme to a singlemulticast transport channel (MCH) layer over a variable schedulingperiod (SP), wherein traffic from the plurality of MTCHs is allocated toa plurality of transport blocks (TBs) of the SP to reduce padding invacant TBs.

In one embodiment, a network control entity in a wirelesstelecommunication network is provided for scheduling multimediabroadcast multicast services (MBMS). The network control entity includesa processor configured to promote transmitting an MTCH having asubstantially constant service rate. The processor is further configuredto promote a secondary multicast control channel (S-MCCH) providingscheduling information associated with the transmitted MTCH.

In still other embodiments, a user equipment is provided to receive amulticast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) traffic content.The user equipment includes a processor that is configured to receiveone or more multicast traffic channels (MTCHs) transmissions providedduring a variable scheduling period (SP) and including a data portionthat contains MBSFN traffic content and a variable scheduling portionthat contains scheduling information related to the MBSFN trafficcontent. The processor is further configured to use the schedulinginformation in the scheduling portion to receive one or more of theMTCHs.

In another embodiment, a user equipment is provided that includes aprocessor that is configured to receive a single multicast broadcastsingle frequency network (MSBFN) broadcast. The broadcast including athe plurality of MTCHs multiplexed to comprise the broadcast and mappedaccording to the multiplexing scheme to a single multicast transportchannel (MCH) layer over a variable scheduling period (SP). Traffic fromthe plurality of MTCHs is allocated to a plurality of transport blocks(TBs) of the SP to reduce padding in vacant TBs. The processor isfurther configured to use a demultiplexing scheme related to themultiplexing scheme to analyze the scheduling period to receive one ofthe plurality of MTCHs.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary cellular network 100 according to anembodiment of the disclosure. The cellular network 100 may include aplurality of cells 1021, 1022, 1023, 1024, 1025, 1026, 1027, 1028, 1029,10210, 10211, 10212, 10213, and 10214 (collectively referred to as cells102). As is apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art, each ofthe cells 102 represents a coverage area for providing cellular servicesof the cellular network 100 through communication from an enhanced nodeB (ENB). While the cells 102 are depicted as having non-overlappingcoverage areas, persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatone or more of the cells 102 may have partially overlapping coveragewith adjacent cells. Further, while a particular number of the cells 102are depicted, persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that alarger or smaller number of the cells 102 may be included in thecellular network 100.

One or more UEs 10 may be present in each of the cells 102. Althoughonly one UE 10 is depicted and is shown in only one cell 10212, it willbe apparent to one of skill in the art that a plurality of UEs 10 mightbe present in each of the cells 102. An ENB 20 in each of the cells 102performs functions similar to those of a traditional base station. Thatis, the ENBs 20 provide a radio link between the UEs 10 and othercomponents in a telecommunications network. While the ENB 20 is shownonly in cell 10212, it should be understood that an ENB would be presentin each of the cells 102. Also, radio links other than the ENBs 20 couldbe used. A central control 110 oversees the wireless data transmissionswithin the cells 102 by providing centralized management andcoordination for the cells 102 and their corresponding ENBs 20.

In the present disclosure, the cellular systems or cells 102 aredescribed as engaged in certain activities, such as transmittingsignals; however, as will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art,these activities would in fact be conducted by components comprising thecells. As an example, FIG. 2 depicts a more detailed view of the cell10212. The ENB 20 in cell 10212 can promote communication via atransmitter 27, a receiver 29, and/or other well known equipment.Similar equipment might be present in the other cells 102. A pluralityof UEs 10 are present in the cell 10212, as might be the case in theother cells 102.

The transmission of an MBMS in one or more of the cells 102 can includetwo components, a multicast control channel (MCCH) and a multicasttraffic channel (MTCH). The MTCH delivers the actual content of the MBMSwhile the MCCH delivers control information related to the MBMS. TheMCCH might include key control information that specifies how thecontent in the MTCH is to be delivered. Configuration information forthe MCCH might be transmitted in a broadcast control channel (BCCH).Each of the cells 102 might transmit information over a BCCH to providethe UEs 10 with information about the MBMSs available in the cells 102and with other information. When one of the UEs 10 powers up, it canreceive the BCCH, read the MCCH configuration contained in the BCCH, anddetermine from the MCCH control information how to receive one or moreMTCHs.

The MCCH control information may be divided into two portions: mastercontrol information and service control information. The master controlinformation can also be referred to as primary MCCH (P-MCCH) informationand the service control information can also be referred to as secondaryMCCH (S-MCCH) information. The S-MCCH information can includeinformation about how an MTCH can be received. The P-MCCH informationcan directly include the S-MCCH information or can include a pointer toa location where the S-MCCH information can be retrieved.

The S-MCCH information may include control information for one or moreMTCH transmissions. This might include scheduling information for one ormore MTCHs, modulation and coding information for one or more MTCHs, andSFN-related parameters. Since multiple MTCHs might be transmitted by asingle ENB 20, and a different set of S-MCCH information might be neededfor each MTCH, multiple sets of S-MCCH information might be associatedwith the BCCH transmitted by the single ENB 20.

The MTCH and the MCCH are logical, upper layer channels. The lower layertransport channel on which the MTCH and the MCCH are carried istypically referred to as the MBMS multicast channel, the multicasttransport channel, or simply the MCH, in the MBSFN case (multi-celloperation). FIG. 3 illustrates a structure of an MBMS transmission 300.The transmission 300 includes an MCCH portion 310 and an MTCH portion320. The MCCH 310 and the MTCH 320 are transported on an MCH layer 330.The MCCH 310 includes a P-MCCH portion 312 and an S-MCCH portion 314.The MTCH portion 320 includes a plurality of individual MTCHs 322, eachcorresponding to a different MBMS. While four MTCHs 322 are shown, alarger or smaller number of MTCHs 322 could be present. Also, while theMCCH portion 310 and the MTCH portion 320 are shown being carried on thesame MCH layer 330, in some cases, the MCCH portion 310 and the MTCHportion 320 could be carried on different MCHs.

FIG. 4 illustrates a plurality of MBSFNs in which a broadcast and/ormulticast of a plurality of MBMS transmissions, such as the MBMStransmission 300, might occur. A first MBSFN 420 includes cells 1021,1022, 1024, 1026, 1027, 1029, 10211, and 10212. A second MBSFN 430includes cells 1023, 1026, and 1028. A third MBSFN 440 includes cells1025, 1027, and 10210. That is, a broadcast and/or multicast of a firstMBMS can be assumed to be occurring in the first MBSFN 420, a broadcastand/or multicast of a second MBMS can be assumed to be occurring in thesecond MBSFN 430, and a broadcast and/or multicast of a third MBMS canbe assumed to be occurring in the third MBSFN 440.

Cell 1026 belongs to both the first MBSFN 420 and the second MBSFN 430,and therefore broadcasts and/or multicasts of both the first and thesecond MBMS can be assumed to be occurring in cell 1026. Cell 1027belongs to both the first MBSFN 420 and the third MBSFN 440, andtherefore broadcasts and/or multicasts of both the first and the thirdMBMS can be assumed to be occurring in cell 1027. Broadcasts and/ormulticasts of other MBMSs could be occurring in the cells 102, andtherefore other MBSFNs could be present but are not shown.

Because the size of data packets for MBMS services is dynamic, a certainlevel of dynamic scheduling is typically required. Data may becommunicated to UEs using sub-frames which are usually 1 ms in length.These sub-frames include a scheduling portion and a data portion. Inthis environment, a UE needs to read the schedule of each sub-frame todetermine whether the sub-frame contains any data of interest to the UE.However the MBMS traffic rate tends to be dynamic over longer periods oftime, while the MBMS traffic rate may be near constant over shorterperiods of time. Therefore, instead of employing 1 ms sub-frames eachhaving scheduling overhead, the present disclosure proposes a schedulingperiod (SP) of varying length, which may be from a few milliseconds toseveral seconds long. To reduce overhead, the scheduling information forthe entire scheduling period is front-loaded in a scheduling portionahead of the data which is provided in a data portion. The UE may gainefficiencies by waking to read the schedule related to longertransmissions as compared with waking to read many schedules for shorter1 ms sub-frames. Also, where the transmitted data is not of interest tothe UE, the UE may conserve power and extend battery life by sleepingduring the longer transmissions periods.

FIG. 5a illustrates an embodiment of a structure of an MCH 450 for asingle scheduling period (SP). As mentioned above, the length of the SPmay vary, for example, from more than one millisecond (ms) to severalseconds. In some embodiments, the SP may be greater than aboutone-hundred ms and less than a few seconds. Furthermore, the SP may bedynamic over time. For example, each SP could have a different durationthan the previous SP, or a 100 ms SP may be established for some periodof time and then could be changed to a 500 ms SP for some duration.

The MCH 450 during the SP may comprise a scheduling portion 452 and adata portion 454. The scheduling portion 452 of the MCH 450 may includescheduling information related to the data portion 454, such as servicetiming including start time, end time, and duration information. Thescheduling information may also contain periodicity, and resourceallocation information. The scheduling portion 452 may also includeadditional scheduling information such as data modulation scheme and aservice id associated with a particular transmitted service. Thescheduling portion 452 may precede the data portion 454 and be ofvarying length depending on the scheduling information that needs to beprovided. Thus, the lengths of both the SP and scheduling portion 452may be variable.

The data portion 454 may follow the scheduling portion 452 and maycomprise the remaining length of the MCH 450 SP. The data portion 454may include the actual traffic content of the MBMS (multiple MTCHs),such as television programs, streaming video, and other multimediacontent.

FIG. 5b illustrates another embodiment of a structure of the MCH 450. InMBMS services with dynamic data rates such as streaming video, dynamicscheduling information may be sent to the UEs, as described above, toimprove the spectrum efficiency. However, some MBMS services may haveconstant or near-constant service rates, such as streaming audio, sometext services such as stock market data, and other type of serviceshaving persistent data rates, all of which may be referred to herein aspersistent services. These constant or near-constant rate services maynot necessarily require a dynamic scheduling configuration. According toanother embodiment, the present disclosure contemplates providingpersistent scheduling information 460 in the S-MCCH for these constantor near-constant rate services while providing the schedulinginformation for the dynamic services in the scheduling portion 452substantially as described above. As such, the persistent schedulinginformation 460 for any services with constant or near-constant rates isprovided in the S-MCCH, which may free space for additional schedulinginformation in the scheduling portion 452 or more content in the dataportion 454.

The scheduling decisions may be made at the central control 110 anddelivered to the ENBs 20 for actual transmission. It is contemplatedthat the central control 110 will determine the transmission ratecharacteristics of each service and instruct the ENBs regarding thescheduling information, such as service timing, periodicity, and so on,and where to load the related scheduling information, either in theS-MCCH or scheduling portion of the SP in the MCH. In one embodiment,the central control may recognize that the ENBs are switching fromtransmitting only dynamic rate services to also include somenear-constant rate services to the UEs. The central control may thenreconfigure the S-MCCH in the MCH transport layer to deliver, instead ofthe MTCH or the P-MCCH, the scheduling information which may persistover one or a plurality of SPs.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a method 200 that may be implementedfor scheduling the transmission of MBMS to the UEs 10. In block 210, thescheduling decision for a given SP is made at the central control 110.The scheduling information among the multiple cells may be handled andcoordinated at the central control 110, which is aware of the MBMStransmissions occurring in the MBSFNs over the telecommunicationnetwork. In block 220, the scheduling decisions are sent from thecentral control 110 to the individual ENBs 20 in the individual cells102. In block 230, the scheduling information is added to the schedulingportion 454 of the MCH 450 at the individual ENBs 20, comprising thetraffic starting time, periodicity, allocated resources, serviceidentification or ID, and perhaps other information as well. In block240, the scheduling information is transmitted from the ENBs 20 to theindividual UEs 10 in the cells, wherein the ENBs 20 may transmit the MCH450 comprising the scheduling information in addition to the trafficcontent at the start of each SP.

In the case where a single MBSFN comprise a plurality of transmittedMTCHs, the plurality of MTCHs may be mapped to the MCH transport layer.In addition, a smoother traffic transmission may be achieved byincreasing the SP size in the MCH layer. The plurality of MTCHs may bemultiplexed onto a single MCH transport layer, wherein different MTCHsmay occupy the same sub-frame resulting in no or a reduced number ofempty transfer blocks (TBs) in the sub-frame. As a result, no or areduced number of TBs within the SP may remain vacant, which may reducetransmission overhead and padding of empty TBs. For example, four orless of the MTCHs 320 in FIG. 3 may be multiplexed over a plurality ofSPs, one SP at a time. The resulting multiplexed MCH may be similar informat over a single SP to the MCH 450, comprising a scheduling portion452 for the multiplexed data, and a multiplexed data portion 454. Themultiplexed MCH may also have a different format that changes with theSP. As in the case of scheduling multiple MTCH traffic, multiplexing theMTCHs may be initiated at the central control 110. The central control110 may specify the multiplexing decisions/options such as deciding onthe multiplexing configuration for a plurality of MTCHs, as well as howmany services and which services may be multiplexed together within anSP. The central control 110 may then send the multiplexing informationto the ENBs 20, wherein the MTCHs may be transmitted to the UEs 10.

FIG. 7a illustrates an embodiment 700 of multiplexed data in an SP of anMCH. Specifically, three of the four MTCHs 320 in FIG. 3, MTCH1, MTCH2,and MTCH3 may be multiplexed onto the MCH using a frequency-firstmultiplexing scheme. In the frequency-first multiplexing scheme 700, theservice traffic from the three MTCHs may be mapped onto the sub-framesof the SP, 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, and 712, wherein each sub-frame inthe SP may comprise a plurality of TBs comprising traffic from all threeMTCHs. When the traffic from one MTCH is completely transmitted, thesub-frames may then comprise traffic from the remaining MTCHs in theMBSFN. For instance, the first three sub-frames of the SP, 702, 704, and706 may comprise the entire MTCH2 traffic as well as some of the MTCH1and MTCH3 traffic. The remaining three sub-frames, 708, 710, and 712 maycomprise the remaining traffic for the MTCH1 and the MTCH3 but not forthe MTCH2, since the entire MTCH2 traffic is already transmitted in thefirst three sub-frames. Since service data for all three MTCHs aretransmitted from the start of the first SP, the frequency-first scheme700 may reduce time delays in all services transmitted at the same time.

FIG. 7b illustrates another embodiment 720 of multiplexed data in anMCH, wherein the three MTCHs 320 are multiplexed using a time-firstmultiplexing scheme. In the time-first multiplexing scheme 720, thethree MTCHs services may be mapped onto the SP sub-frames one MTCH afteranother in a sequential manner. For example, the MTCH1 may be firstmapped onto the first sub-frames of the SP, 702, 704, and parts of 706,until the first sub-frames 702, 704, 706 comprise the entire MTCH1service data. In the same manner, MTCH2 and MTCH3 may be mapped one at atime onto the following sub-frames of the SP. As a result, thetime-first multiplexing scheme 720 may cause transmission delays forMTCH2 and MTCH3 in comparison to the corresponding MTCH2 and MTCH3transmission delays of the frequency-first multiplexing scheme 700.However, using the time-first multiplexing scheme 720 the introducedtransmission delays may be less significant considering that the MBMS isnot primarily an interactive service and hence is not as delaysensitive.

In the time-first multiplexing scheme 720, a sub-frame may comprisetraffic from two MTCHs during the transition from one MTCH to anotherMTCH in order to avoid or reduce the number of empty TBs in thetransitional sub-frame. For instance, the sub-frame 706 may compriseMTCH1 traffic as well as MTCH2 traffic, wherein the time-firstmultiplexing scheme 720 may transition from transmitting the lastremaining MTCH1 traffic data to transmitting the first data of the MTCH2traffic. In other embodiments, a sub-frame may comprise traffic from aplurality of MTCHs, wherein the sub-frame size may be at least largeenough to accommodate the entire traffic for at least one of the MTCHs.For instance, the sub-frame 706 may comprise the last of the MTCH1 dataand the entire MTCH2 traffic if the entire MTCH2 traffic is smaller thanthe remaining size of the sub-frame 706. Moreover, if the entire MTCH2traffic is sufficiently smaller than the remaining size of the sub-frame706, the sub-frame 706 may additionally comprise the first data of theMTCH3 traffic.

In order to receive the MTCHs service data, the UEs may need to be inwake-up mode, i.e. turned on. In the case of the frequency-firstmultiplexing scheme 700, the UE 10 a, for example, that is interested inreceiving only MTCH1 needs to be in wake-up mode throughout the entireSP duration. Since the MTCH1 traffic is transmitted along the entiresub-frames of the SP, the UE 10 a needs to be in wake-up mode throughoutthe entire transmission period. On the other hand, in the time-firstmultiplexing scheme 720, the UE interested in receiving only MTCH1 maybe in wake-up mode during the transmission of the first sub-frames, 702,704, and 706 of the SP that comprise the entire MTCH1 traffic. When noMTCH1 traffic remains in the transmitted SP sub-frames, the UE may beturned off. Similarly, the UE 10 b that may be interested in receivingonly MTCH2 may be turned on at the instance when the first sub-frame inthe SP comprising MTCH2 traffic, i.e. sub-frame 706, is beingtransmitted.

Since traffic scheduling as well as multiplexing may be performed at thestart of the SP, the UEs may utilize efficient discontinuous reception(DRx) behavior to save battery life and power consumption. Efficient DRxbehavior may be achieved when the UEs are turned on during a smallportion of the SP wherein the traffic data is transmitted from the ENBs.Instead of remaining in wake-up mode during the entire duration of theSP, the UEs are turned off during the remaining time period of the SP.

FIG. 8 illustrates a wireless communications system including anembodiment of the UE 10. The UE 10 is operable for implementing aspectsof the disclosure, but the disclosure should not be limited to theseimplementations. Though illustrated as a mobile phone, the UE 10 maytake various forms including a wireless handset, a pager, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a tablet computer, or alaptop computer. Many suitable devices combine some or all of thesefunctions. In some embodiments of the disclosure, the UE 10 is not ageneral purpose computing device like a portable, laptop or tabletcomputer, but rather is a special-purpose communications device such asa mobile phone, a wireless handset, a pager, a PDA, or atelecommunications device installed in a vehicle. In another embodiment,the UE 10 may be a portable, laptop or other computing device. The UE 10may support specialized activities such as gaming, inventory control,job control, and/or task management functions, and so on.

The UE 10 includes a display 402. The UE 10 also includes atouch-sensitive surface, a keyboard or other input keys generallyreferred as 404 for input by a user. The keyboard may be a full orreduced alphanumeric keyboard such as QWERTY, Dvorak, AZERTY, andsequential types, or a traditional numeric keypad with alphabet lettersassociated with a telephone keypad. The input keys may include atrackwheel, an exit or escape key, a trackball, and other navigationalor functional keys, which may be inwardly depressed to provide furtherinput function. The UE 10 may present options for the user to select,controls for the user to actuate, and/or cursors or other indicators forthe user to direct.

The UE 10 may further accept data entry from the user, including numbersto dial or various parameter values for configuring the operation of theUE 10. The UE 10 may further execute one or more software or firmwareapplications in response to user commands. These applications mayconfigure the UE 10 to perform various customized functions in responseto user interaction. Additionally, the UE 10 may be programmed and/orconfigured over-the-air, for example from a wireless base station, awireless access point, or a peer UE 10.

Among the various applications executable by the UE 10 are a webbrowser, which enables the display 402 to show a web page. The web pagemay be obtained via wireless communications with a wireless networkaccess node, a cell tower, a peer UE 10, or any other wirelesscommunication network or system 400. The network 400 is coupled to awired network 408, such as the Internet. Via the wireless link and thewired network, the UE 10 has access to information on various servers,such as a server 410. The server 410 may provide content that may beshown on the display 402. Alternately, the UE 10 may access the network400 through a peer UE 10 acting as an intermediary, in a relay type orhop type of connection.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of the UE 10. While a variety of knowncomponents of UEs 10 are depicted, in an embodiment a subset of thelisted components and/or additional components not listed may beincluded in the UE 10. The UE 10 includes a digital signal processor(DSP) 502 and a memory 504. As shown, the UE 10 may further include anantenna and front end unit 506, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 508,an analog baseband processing unit 510, a microphone 512, an earpiecespeaker 514, a headset port 516, an input/output interface 518, aremovable memory card 520, a universal serial bus (USB) port 522, ashort range wireless communication sub-system 524, an alert 526, akeypad 528, a liquid crystal display (LCD), which may include a touchsensitive surface 530, an LCD controller 532, a charge-coupled device(CCD) camera 534, a camera controller 536, and a global positioningsystem (GPS) sensor 538. In an embodiment, the UE 10 may include anotherkind of display that does not provide a touch sensitive screen. In anembodiment, the DSP 502 may communicate directly with the memory 504without passing through the input/output interface 518.

The DSP 502 or some other form of controller or central processing unitoperates to control the various components of the UE 10 in accordancewith embedded software or firmware stored in memory 504 or stored inmemory contained within the DSP 502 itself. In addition to the embeddedsoftware or firmware, the DSP 502 may execute other applications storedin the memory 504 or made available via information carrier media suchas portable data storage media like the removable memory card 520 or viawired or wireless network communications. The application software maycomprise a compiled set of machine-readable instructions that configurethe DSP 502 to provide the desired functionality, or the applicationsoftware may be high-level software instructions to be processed by aninterpreter or compiler to indirectly configure the DSP 502.

The antenna and front end unit 506 may be provided to convert betweenwireless signals and electrical signals, enabling the UE 10 to send andreceive information from a cellular network or some other availablewireless communications network or from a peer UE 10. In an embodiment,the antenna and front end unit 506 may include multiple antennas tosupport beam forming and/or multiple input multiple output (MIMO)operations. As is known to those skilled in the art, MIMO operations mayprovide spatial diversity which can be used to overcome difficultchannel conditions and/or increase channel throughput. The antenna andfront end unit 506 may include antenna tuning and/or impedance matchingcomponents, RF power amplifiers, and/or low noise amplifiers.

The RF transceiver 508 provides frequency shifting, converting receivedRF signals to baseband and converting baseband transmit signals to RF.In some descriptions a radio transceiver or RF transceiver may beunderstood to include other signal processing functionality such asmodulation/demodulation, coding/decoding, interleaving/deinterleaving,spreading/despreading, inverse fast Fourier transforming (IFFT)/fastFourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefix appending/removal, and othersignal processing functions. For the purposes of clarity, thedescription here separates the description of this signal processingfrom the RF and/or radio stage and conceptually allocates that signalprocessing to the analog baseband processing unit 510 and/or the DSP 502or other central processing unit. In some embodiments, the RFTransceiver 508, portions of the Antenna and Front End 506, and theanalog baseband processing unit 510 may be combined in one or moreprocessing units and/or application specific integrated circuits(ASICs).

The analog baseband processing unit 510 may provide various analogprocessing of inputs and outputs, for example analog processing ofinputs from the microphone 512 and the headset 516 and outputs to theearpiece 514 and the headset 516. To that end, the analog basebandprocessing unit 510 may have ports for connecting to the built-inmicrophone 512 and the earpiece speaker 514 that enable the UE 10 to beused as a cell phone. The analog baseband processing unit 510 mayfurther include a port for connecting to a headset or other hands-freemicrophone and speaker configuration. The analog baseband processingunit 510 may provide digital-to-analog conversion in one signaldirection and analog-to-digital conversion in the opposing signaldirection. In some embodiments, at least some of the functionality ofthe analog baseband processing unit 510 may be provided by digitalprocessing components, for example by the DSP 502 or by other centralprocessing units.

The DSP 502 may perform modulation/demodulation, coding/decoding,interleaving/deinterleaving, spreading/despreading, inverse fast Fouriertransforming (IFFT)/fast Fourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefixappending/removal, and other signal processing functions associated withwireless communications. In an embodiment, for example in a codedivision multiple access (CDMA) technology application, for atransmitter function the DSP 502 may perform modulation, coding,interleaving, and spreading, and for a receiver function the DSP 502 mayperform despreading, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. Inanother embodiment, for example in an orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplex access (OFDMA) technology application, for the transmitterfunction the DSP 502 may perform modulation, coding, interleaving,inverse fast Fourier transforming, and cyclic prefix appending, and fora receiver function the DSP 502 may perform cyclic prefix removal, fastFourier transforming, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. Inother wireless technology applications, yet other signal processingfunctions and combinations of signal processing functions may beperformed by the DSP 502.

The DSP 502 may communicate with a wireless network via the analogbaseband processing unit 510. In some embodiments, the communication mayprovide Internet connectivity, enabling a user to gain access to contenton the Internet and to send and receive e-mail or text messages. Theinput/output interface 518 interconnects the DSP 502 and variousmemories and interfaces. The memory 504 and the removable memory card520 may provide software and data to configure the operation of the DSP502. Among the interfaces may be the USB interface 522 and the shortrange wireless communication sub-system 524. The USB interface 522 maybe used to charge the UE 10 and may also enable the UE 10 to function asa peripheral device to exchange information with a personal computer orother computer system. The short range wireless communication sub-system524 may include an infrared port, a Bluetooth interface, an IEEE 802.11compliant wireless interface, or any other short range wirelesscommunication sub-system, which may enable the UE 10 to communicatewirelessly with other nearby mobile devices and/or wireless basestations.

The input/output interface 518 may further connect the DSP 502 to thealert 526 that, when triggered, causes the UE 10 to provide a notice tothe user, for example, by ringing, playing a melody, or vibrating. Thealert 526 may serve as a mechanism for alerting the user to any ofvarious events such as an incoming call, a new text message, and anappointment reminder by silently vibrating, or by playing a specificpre-assigned melody for a particular caller.

The keypad 528 couples to the DSP 502 via the interface 518 to provideone mechanism for the user to make selections, enter information, andotherwise provide input to the UE 10. The keyboard 528 may be a full orreduced alphanumeric keyboard such as QWERTY, Dvorak, AZERTY andsequential types, or a traditional numeric keypad with alphabet lettersassociated with a telephone keypad. The input keys may include atrackwheel, an exit or escape key, a trackball, and other navigationalor functional keys, which may be inwardly depressed to provide furtherinput function. Another input mechanism may be the LCD 530, which mayinclude touch screen capability and also display text and/or graphics tothe user. The LCD controller 532 couples the DSP 502 to the LCD 530.

The CCD camera 534, if equipped, enables the UE 10 to take digitalpictures. The DSP 502 communicates with the CCD camera 534 via thecamera controller 536. In another embodiment, a camera operatingaccording to a technology other than Charge Coupled Device cameras maybe employed. The GPS sensor 538 is coupled to the DSP 502 to decodeglobal positioning system signals, thereby enabling the UE 10 todetermine its position. Various other peripherals may also be includedto provide additional functions, e.g., radio and television reception.

FIG. 10 illustrates a software environment 602 that may be implementedby the DSP 502. The DSP 502 executes operating system drivers 604 thatprovide a platform from which the rest of the software operates. Theoperating system drivers 604 provide drivers for the wireless devicehardware with standardized interfaces that are accessible to applicationsoftware. The operating system drivers 604 include applicationmanagement services (“AMS”) 606 that transfer control betweenapplications running on the UE 10. Also shown in FIG. 10 are a webbrowser application 608, a media player application 610, and Javaapplets 612. The web browser application 608 configures the UE 10 tooperate as a web browser, allowing a user to enter information intoforms and select links to retrieve and view web pages. The media playerapplication 610 configures the UE 10 to retrieve and play audio oraudiovisual media. The Java applets 612 configure the UE 10 to providegames, utilities, and other functionality. A component 614 might providefunctionality related to MBSFN data scheduling and handling.

The UEs 10, ENBs 20, and central control 110 of FIG. 1 and othercomponents that might be associated with the cells 102 may include anygeneral-purpose computer with sufficient processing power, memoryresources, and network throughput capability to handle the necessaryworkload placed upon it. FIG. 11 illustrates a typical, general-purposecomputer system 700 that may be suitable for implementing one or moreembodiments disclosed herein. The computer system 700 includes aprocessor 720 (which may be referred to as a central processor unit orCPU) that is in communication with memory devices including secondarystorage 750, read only memory (ROM) 740, random access memory (RAM) 730,input/output (I/O) devices 700, and network connectivity devices 760.The processor may be implemented as one or more CPU chips.

The secondary storage 750 is typically comprised of one or more diskdrives or tape drives and is used for non-volatile storage of data andas an over-flow data storage device if RAM 730 is not large enough tohold all working data. Secondary storage 750 may be used to storeprograms which are loaded into RAM 730 when such programs are selectedfor execution. The ROM 740 is used to store instructions and perhapsdata which are read during program execution. ROM 740 is a non-volatilememory device which typically has a small memory capacity relative tothe larger memory capacity of secondary storage. The RAM 730 is used tostore volatile data and perhaps to store instructions. Access to bothROM 740 and RAM 730 is typically faster than to secondary storage 750.

I/O devices 700 may include printers, video monitors, liquid crystaldisplays (LCDs), touch screen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches,dials, mice, track balls, voice recognizers, card readers, paper tapereaders, or other well-known input devices.

The network connectivity devices 760 may take the form of modems, modembanks, ethernet cards, universal serial bus (USB) interface cards,serial interfaces, token ring cards, fiber distributed data interface(FDDI) cards, wireless local area network (WLAN) cards, radiotransceiver cards such as code division multiple access (CDMA) and/orglobal system for mobile communications (GSM) radio transceiver cards,and other well-known network devices. These network connectivity 760devices may enable the processor 720 to communicate with an Internet orone or more intranets. With such a network connection, it iscontemplated that the processor 720 might receive information from thenetwork, or might output information to the network in the course ofperforming the above-described method steps. Such information, which isoften represented as a sequence of instructions to be executed usingprocessor 720, may be received from and outputted to the network, forexample, in the form of a computer data signal embodied in a carrierwave.

Such information, which may include data or instructions to be executedusing processor 720 for example, may be received from and outputted tothe network, for example, in the form of a computer data baseband signalor signal embodied in a carrier wave. The baseband signal or signalembodied in the carrier wave generated by the network connectivity 760devices may propagate in or on the surface of electrical conductors, incoaxial cables, in waveguides, in optical media, for example opticalfiber, or in the air or free space. The information contained in thebaseband signal or signal embedded in the carrier wave may be orderedaccording to different sequences, as may be desirable for eitherprocessing or generating the information or transmitting or receivingthe information. The baseband signal or signal embedded in the carrierwave, or other types of signals currently used or hereafter developed,referred to herein as the transmission medium, may be generatedaccording to several methods well known to one skilled in the art.

The processor 720 executes instructions, codes, computer programs,scripts which it accesses from hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk(these various disk-based systems may all be considered secondarystorage 750), ROM 740, RAM 730, or the network connectivity devices 760.While only one processor 720 is shown, multiple processors may bepresent. Thus, while instructions may be discussed as executed by aprocessor, the instructions may be executed simultaneously, serially, orotherwise executed by one or multiple processors.

While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure,it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods may beembodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spiritor scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is notto be limited to the details given herein. For example, the variouselements or components may be combined or integrated in another systemor certain features may be omitted, or not implemented.

Also, techniques, systems, subsystems and methods described andillustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may becombined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, ormethods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled orcommunicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicatingthrough some interface, device, or intermediate component, whetherelectrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes,substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in theart and could be made without departing from the spirit and scopedisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method implemented by a processor of a centralcontrol in a wireless telecommunication network, the method comprising:promoting a plurality of enhanced node Bs (ENBs) to transmit one or moremulticast channels (MCHs), wherein the one or more MCHs include ascheduling portion immediately followed by a data portion that containstraffic content of multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS),wherein the scheduling portion in the one or more MCHs has a variablelength and contains scheduling information related to the trafficcontent, and wherein the scheduling information at least includes ascheduling period related to the data portion and an allocation ofresources related to the data portion.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe scheduling information further includes a modulation and codinginformation related to the traffic content.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising the central control assigning a length of thescheduling portion.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the length of thescheduling portion is dynamically changed over time.
 5. A methodimplemented by a processor of an enhanced node B (ENB) in a wirelesstelecommunication network, the method comprising: transmitting at leastone multicast channel (MCH) having a scheduling portion immediatelyfollowed by a data portion that contains traffic content of multimediabroadcast multicast service (MBMS), wherein the scheduling portion inthe at least one MCH has a variable length and contains schedulinginformation related to the traffic content, and wherein the schedulinginformation at least includes a scheduling period related to the dataportion and an allocation of resources related to the data portion. 6.The method of claim 5, wherein the scheduling information furtherincludes a modulation and coding information related to the trafficcontent.
 7. A method implemented by a processor of a user equipment, themethod comprising: receiving one or more multicast channels (MCHs)transmissions including a scheduling portion immediately followed by adata portion that contains traffic content of multimedia broadcastmulticast service (MBMS), wherein the scheduling portion in the one ormore MCHs has a variable length and contains scheduling informationrelated to the traffic content, wherein the scheduling information atleast includes a scheduling period related to the data portion and anallocation of resources related to the data portion.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the scheduling information further includes amodulation and coding information related to the traffic content.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising the user equipment using themodulation and coding information related to the traffic content toreceive at least one multicast traffic channel (MTCH).
 10. A userequipment comprising: a processor configured to: receive one or moremulticast channels (MCHs) transmissions including a scheduling portionimmediately followed by a data portion that contains traffic content ofmultimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), wherein the schedulingportion in the one or more MCHs has a variable length and containsscheduling information related to the traffic content, and wherein thescheduling information at least includes a scheduling period related tothe data portion and an allocation of resources related to the dataportion.
 11. The user equipment of claim 10, wherein the schedulinginformation further includes a modulation and coding information relatedto the traffic content.
 12. The user equipment of claim 11, wherein theuser equipment is configured to use the modulation and codinginformation to receive at least one multicast traffic channel (MTCH).13. An enhanced node B (ENB) in a wireless telecommunication network,the ENB comprising: a processor configured to: transmit at least onemulticast channel (MCH) having a scheduling portion immediately followedby a data portion that contains traffic content of multimedia broadcastmulticast service (MBMS), wherein the scheduling portion in the at leastone MCH has a variable length and contains scheduling informationrelated to the traffic content, and wherein the scheduling informationat least includes a scheduling period related to the data portion and anallocation of resources related to the data portion.
 14. The ENB ofclaim 13, wherein the scheduling information further includes amodulation and coding information related to the traffic content. 15.The ENB of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured toassign a length of the scheduling portion.
 16. The ENB of claim 15,wherein the length of the scheduling portion is dynamically changed overtime.